Living a long and happy life in spite of having ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease

#alicecooper

Crank it up! Music has the ability to lift your mood like nothing else, except maybe those cute kitten Youtube videos. It can transport you into the past, to a time when you felt happiness, love, friendship, sadness (just skip those songs), etcetera. Play some old tunes from your high school years, and I guarantee you’ll instantly tap your foot and sing along! Once I learn the lyrics to a song, they seem to be permanently etched into my brain, unlike all those facts I spent so many hours trying to memorize in school.

I think I got my love of music from my grandmother because she loved to listen to everything under the sun, and I do too. I don’t fit into the target audience for Katy Perry or Awolnation, but I love their music. My kids are probably just happy I couldn’t drive them anywhere and embarrass them with my music selections. Although, I don’t always enjoy the music they choose either. I remember one day sitting on the porch supervising my daughter doing yard work and I wondered how many people drove by and didn’t see her crouched down beside the car pulling weeds, and just saw me, heard her music, and thought I was the one jammin’ out to ,”You’re A Douche Bag”.

Live music is the best. There really is nothing like a concert to make you forget about everything except the music you are listening to. Singer/songwriter Michael Franti and his wife, Sara, know how much music can affect people in a positive way, and they created a foundation called, http://www.doitforthelove.org which gives concert tickets to anyone who is living with a serious illness. Depending on the musician and their schedule, sometimes they can arrange for a “meet and greet” with the musician, as well as free concert tickets. If you are able to donate to their foundation, do it! I went to an awesome concert to see John Mellencamp last year, thanks to “Do It For The Love ” foundation. I try catch a concert or two every summer. This summer, I’ll see Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, and Arlo Guthrie.

Whenever you are feeling down, give it a try. Listening to your favorite songs or finding new music is so easy now, no CD (or album or 8 track or cassette tape, depending on your age) purchase required, Thanks to internet sites like Amazon Music, or Spotify (or many others), Just type in the name of your favorite artist or song,
and let the musical healing begin!

Find something to look forward to, a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It can be literally anything. It can be easier to keep yourself going through the hard days if you have something to look forward to, something you want to do or see. Something you don’t want to miss out on.

For me, the biggest thing has been my kids. When a doctor told me I had only a few years left to be with my family, I said, no (in my mind). I didn’t want to miss out on seeing my kids grow up. I just kept planning and looking forward to our lives like usual, only more so.

But it’s not just the big things that keep you going, it’s the little things too. Like planning on taking a vacation. Or maybe something as small as a new coffee frappuccino coming out at Starbucks next month. Something to actively plan for and look forward to.

My daughter got me to read one of the Harry Potter books, and that instantly gave me another thing to look forward to. I couldn’t wait to read the next book in the series, and the next, and the next, until I had read them all. And then there were the films based on the books to see and to look forward to. My ALS just had to slow down because I wasn’t going anywhere until I had seen all of the Harry Potter movies! I saw them all. That’s when the Powers That Be/God, lead me to Shonda Rhimes. Also known as the creator of some of the best shows on TV, and you guessed it, another reason for me to hang in there for one more season of, “How To Get Away With Murder “, “Scandal “, and “Grey’s Anatomy”. I’m not gonna miss out on what happens with Merideth Grey because of ALS! Ok, I am not saying that all you have to do to keep going when dealing with a serious illness is to find something to look forward to …but, focusing on something besides your illness is a huge piece in the puzzle. I am looking forward to seeing Alice Cooper in concert this summer, I don’t want to miss that. And on and on it goes. I am just going to keep on keeping on, and finding new things, both big and small, to look forward to for as long as I possibly can.

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